Of Gods and Books: Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India (Studies in Manuscript Cultures, 8, Band 8) - Hardcover

De Simini, Florinda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 3110477726 ISBN 13: 9783110477726

Verlag: De Gruyter, 2016

Inhaltsangabe

India has been the homeland of diverse manuscript traditions that do not cease to impress scholars for their imposing size and complexity. Nevertheless, many topics concerning the study of Indian manuscript cultures still remain to receive systematic examination. Of Gods and Books pays attention to one of these topics - the use of manuscripts as ritualistic tools. Literary sources deal quite extensively with rituals principally focused on manuscripts, whose worship, donation and preservation are duly prescribed. Around these activities, a specific category of ritual gift is created, which finds attestations in pre-tantric, as well as in smārta and tantric, literature, and whose practice is also variously reflected in epigraphical documents. De Simini offers a first systematic study of the textual evidence on the topic of the worship and donation of knowledge. She gives account of possible implications for the relationships between religion and power. The book is indsipensible for a deeper understanding of the cultural aspects of manuscript transmission in medieval India, and beyond.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Florinda de Simini, University L'Orientale, Naples, Italy.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: De Gruyter
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2016
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 3110477726
• ISBN 13: 9783110477726
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Auflage: 1
• Anzahl der Seiten: 488
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Walter de Gruyter GmbH; productsafety@degruyterbrill.com; ; Genthiner Straße 13; Berlin; 10785; Deutschland